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One variant of the scam may date back to the 18th or 19th centuries, as a very similar letter, entitled "The Letter from Jerusalem", is seen in the memoirs of Eugène François Vidocq, a former French criminal and private investigator. One of these, sent via postal mail, was addressed to a woman's husband, and inquired about his health.

Some scammers have accomplices in the United States and abroad that move in to finish the deal once the initial contact has been made.

This scam usually begins with the perpetrator contacting the victim via email, instant messaging or social media using a fake email address or fake social media account and making an offer that would allegedly result in a large payoff for the victim.

Often a photograph used by a scammer is not a picture of any person involved in the scheme.

Multiple "people" involved in schemes are fictitious, and in many cases, one person controls many fictitious personas used in scams.

An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and one of the most common types of confidence trick.

The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster requires in order to obtain the large sum.Yet other variants have involved mention of a Nigerian prince or other member of a royal family seeking to transfer large sums of money out of the country—thus, these scams are sometimes called "Nigerian Prince emails".While Nigeria is most often the nation referred to in these scams, they may originate in other nations as well.The scam has been used with fax and traditional mail, and is now prevalent in online communications like emails.The number "419" refers to the section of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud, the charges and penalties for offenders.To help persuade the victim to agree to the deal, the scammer often sends one or more false documents bearing official government stamps, and seals.